


Dull

by velvetcat09



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-09
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2018-08-07 17:35:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 11,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7723570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/velvetcat09/pseuds/velvetcat09
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Wh-what are you…”</p><p>—I think you know that already.</p><p>===<br/>another take of the usual mermaid au with a twist, not exactly, probably nah, but eh who knows</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i got this idea bc i couldnt sleep yesterday so here ya go  
> let me know what you think

_What was the objective of this mission again?_

Gabriel gingerly laid a hand over his shotgun, taking careful steps into the dimly lit passage. There were pipes all over the place, connected to _somewhere_ , surely. His footsteps echoed through the hallway.

“What are we lookin’ here for again, boss?”

“Shut up.” Jesse mouthed an okay. Genji snickered beside him.

Gabriel had expected a more _serious_ team when Ana gave him a covert ops like this one. People with more understanding about their surroundings, who knew what _stealth_ means. At least someone older than 20 years old, _jeez_. They practically dumbed him with these kids. 

Genji was okay, but _McCree_ , though.

“You two take the right, I’ll take the left.” _Screw this, I’m not babysitting both of you ‘til the end of the mission._

* * *

 

Gabriel had expected a simple ‘recover intels’ mission with predictable computer labs and documents. When Ana said ‘Recover information about this group of terrorist who are mass producing biological weapon’, he did not expect _this_. He never was really into science, he knew the basic, knew what has to be known, and that’s it. He was satisfied with that. When he didn’t know something, he looked for an answer. If that answer confused him instead, he shut that whole topic up. But this.

This wasn’t something he can shut easily.

— _Oh, Hello._

He automatically looked behind him, shotguns raised in caution. He swore he was alone in this lab. He’d checked. No one. No nothing. Except for this giant, what, aquarium? It looked more like a big tube of water. It seemed to be empty on a glance.

_—What are those?_

“Who’s talking? Show yourself!” Gabriel heard something move. His back was pressed against the glass of the aquarium when he felt something thudded from the other side of the glass. He fell into his ass when he saw what made that sound.

_—Can I help you?_

In front of him was a merman, hand pressed on the glass. Gabriel stopped thinking altogether. His eyes kept blinking but the image didn’t fade, the merman was still inside that aquarium, staring at him with eyes that seemed to look pass through him.

“Wh-what are you…”

_—I think you know that already._

It smiled at him and something clenched his heart. He couldn’t tell the actual colour of its fin or skin or hair or anything, what with the fluorescent tank glowing in the dark room. The water was clear enough for him to notice the feature of the merman. But murky enough for all details to fade.

 It tilted its head. Gabriel frowned suspiciously.

_—Oh, I remember you!_

It beamed and Gabriel couldn’t tell why it felt so familiar to him.

“I don’t recall knowing any—“ He gestured. “ _this_ , in my life.” The merman blinked and its expression turned somber.

If this was whatever Commander Amari had wanted, Gabriel should get a promotion.

“What are you, anyway?” He stood up, keeping a distance between him and the glass. _And the merman._

_—Like you said, I’m a merman._

_Wait, no._ “I didn’t say that.”

_—Oh?_

Gabriel frowned. Now that he thought about it, the merman didn’t seem to be moving their lips. Maybe they had a different way of talking, different way of vocalising their voice. And that was when Gabriel shut the thoughts down.

“Why are you here?” That question lit up the merman’s face. The smile was back on its face and it made something inside Gabriel churned.

_—I’m here to help people! To help human! You!_

“What—”

“Shit, boss! We found tons of information on the other room! Apparently they’re using a mermaid to make their biological weap— _dude, holy shit._ ” Jesse stopped running when he saw the tank.

“You found the mermaid.” Genji followed. “ _Merman_.”

“Mission’s over. Pack your things.  Get this thing out of the tank and to the base.” Gabriel didn’t look back before he walked straight to the other room. He handled data better than _this_.

Words don’t talk to him. Words don’t make his head hurt with weird feelings. Words certainly don’t make him hear a soft inaudible cry coming from behind him.

* * *

 

Jesse and Genji somehow made it. They managed to put the merman inside a portable tank and got that tank inside their small temporary base. They were to report back to HQ before they got their chopper sent for them. The merman was oddly quieter than before, Gabriel had thought.

“I wasn’t expectin’ much but well, the hissin’ was damn on point.” Jesse took a swig of his beer. Gabriel didn’t pay any attention.

“Didn’t bite, though. But those scars looked really nasty, even on a mermaid.” Gabriel looked up from his holopad.

“Merman.” Genji sat down.

“Whatever, pal.”

Gabriel stood in front of the small tank. How did the two boys even find that small aquarium? The thing was not lidded. The merman, now that he had a good look of it under good lighting, had numerous scars scattered on its body. Some were as small as paper cuts, some were as big as bullet wounds. Its blue fin were badly ripped at the edges, _oh it’s blue_. Its hair was white as bone. There were two scars on its face. One slashing right from its forehead to its left cheek, another one on its lips. The merman’s eyes were pale and dull, just like its skin. As if it had its life drained from it.

_—You’re staring._

“They’re using you to make weapons.” It frowned.

_—No, they’re not. They told me I was helping the human to be better._

“They lied.” It shifted in its small tank. Something about it seemed to be radiating distress.

— _I-I don’t understand. They told me…_

“No, cabrón, they fucking lied. They used whatever it is that you can do for weapons.”

_—But all I can do is heal, that can’t hurt people, right?_

“I’m not sure either, but it said something about reverse-engineering. I don’t know shit but I know what reverse mean.” He looked back over the holopad. Soldier Enhancement Program. Something about deconstructing tissues and bombs. Winston would understand this better.

_—I… D-did I hurt anyone?_

“Hm?”

“Boss,” Gabriel’s mood suddenly soured.

“What?”

“Who you’re talkin’ to?”

Gabriel blinked.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's slowly getting self-explanatory, anyway

“Wait, hold on, _it talked?!_ ” Jesse’s nose scrunched in confusion. Gabriel squinted at him. _The merman can talk_ , he was certain of that. Knew that already. They’d talked in the lab before, had a conversation until the boys decided to crash in. Gabriel turned his attention back to the one inside the tank, giving it a knowing look.

_—What?_

“You’re talking.” It raised a playful eyebrow.

_—And your point?_

It was Gabriel’s turn to scrunch his nose in confusion. “I’m not getting any of this.”

“Who’re you talkin’ to? Seriously, that _thing_ had done nothin’ but _hissin’_ at us. _What the fuck,_ boss?” This was getting nowhere, as far as Gabriel could tell.

“McCree, go to sleep. You too, Genji.” The cyborg halted, as if to retort at his leader’s words but changed his thought on the last second. There was no use being petty, at least not now. Genji went to his bunk.

“I’m too tired for this shit.”

“Go to sleep, cabrón.” The merman stared back at Gabriel.

* * *

 

“Why are you not talking to them? Why am I the only one who can hear you talk?” Gabriel had dragged a small chair near the tank. He sat down, arms leaning on his knees with his back hunched forward. His voice was just slightly above whispering. Those pale blue eyes still bothered him a lot.

_—I can’t talk._

“No, you can. I’m listening to you now.” For some unknown reason, Gabriel found it in him to be patient with the creature.

_—I’m talking inside your head._

Gabriel’s eyebrow twitched.

 _—I can’t talk and I can’t see. But I can sense minds around me, that’s how I_ talk _._

The merman shifted inside the confined space.

“Then why won’t you talk with those two?” Gabriel’s brows were knitted in a frown.

_—I don’t know them._

“But you talk with me,”

_—Yes._

Gabriel didn’t press more. That was a conversation for another time. Some other time when he had a much clearer head instead of a mind fogged with familiarity. One of these days, his habit of shutting everything down would be the death of him. 

“What did they do to you?”

_—Huh? They opened my big tank and tried to drag me out from it but I swam away, but then they said you want me so I,_

“Not the boys— _them!_ The scientist!” Gabriel let out a frustrated sigh.

_—O-oh… they… they said I was helping the human…_

“Explain the scars.” He was not going to play that same game twice.

_—They ran, ah, what did they say again, ah, right, tests. They ran tests on me, l-lots of them._

Despite the uselessness of it, the merman blinked its eyes rapidly as if to focus on something, _anything_.

_—They said they wanted to know how far I can heal the wounds. I healed them all, at first. But then they started with these needles… I c-couldn’t heal all of them. I couldn’t heal my eyes and the cuts. B-but they said I was doing good, so I thought… I thought that was okay._

The more he knew about Talon, the more he wanted to tear the thing apart and destroy every bits of it. And yet all he could crush was just remnants of what the terrorist group used to be. Overwatch had destroyed the organisation first before he could. It boiled his anger.

_—Then they left. There were no more tests, and then no more people around._

“Why didn’t you leave?”

_—I thought if I stayed put, they’ll be back._

_Christ._ He felt sick.

“Your voice?” The merman tensed for a second, Gabriel noticed it right away.

“Did they take that as well?” _Poured something inside your throat, burned it and left you to try heal the shit?_

It flinched, ducking itself from Gabriel’s attention.

_—N-no, they didn’t do that. I lost it a long time ago._

Gabriel’s eyes widened, he should learn how to filter his thoughts more. He ran a hand over his face, sighed into it.

“Why are you telling me all these…”

_—I trust you._

His heart tightened again.

“ _Why?”_

The merman just blinked. It curled in the small tank, as if trying to hide from Gabriel but failed miserably at it. His heart felt too tight for his own comfort.

“The boys,” Another sigh. “they’re good people. You can trust them. It’s okay.” Gabriel stood up from his seat. His eyes softened when he gazed down at the poor creature.

“They really want to talk with you, bello.” He let himself smile at the merman before he retreated to his own bunk.

When he laid down on his back, he could hear a soft hum.

_—It’s Jack, Gabi._

He fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

 

He woke up from a loud conversation over the other room. His head throbbed when his mind could identify the owner of said noise.

“Boss! Wake up, boss! This mermaid is hilarious as hell! Do it again, Jack.” Jesse was grinning from ear to ear with Genji standing beside him, actually amused. Not from the impressive merman, but from the fake cowboy next to him.

_—You want to get into Genji’s brother’s pants._

“Oh, man, you did it again. Well done, boy.”

“You do know that’s not _that_ hard to think, right? Everyone knows that already.”

“Yea’ but we’ve only met Jack yesterday? He already knows so much already!”

“He's telepathic, what— _How did you even get into Overwatch?!_ “

“Dude, is that a yes or a no? Can I bang your brother—“

 _Deep breath._ He should report to Ana now. Gabriel longed for a quieter morning.

“Shut up, I’m trying to report back.” He hissed. Somewhere, he could hear a small snicker inside his head. 

“Oh, yea’! Angela could patch Jack up, we got tons of good scientist back home, they can figure out what’s wrong with Jack.” Gabriel mouthed the new, yet familiar name. It has a nostalgic taste in his tongue. He couldn't exactly tell why, but it didn't bother him much.

_—Gabi_

At least not as much.

Gabriel snapped from his thoughts. Jack looked terrified and he knew exactly why. Those dull eyes saw right to his soul. Suddenly Gabriel felt against with the idea of bringing Ana her intel. Suddenly Gabriel didn’t want to let anyone near Jack. He would let no one hurt Jack anymore. An unexpected wave of protectiveness washed through him.

Suddenly he was five again. Drowning near the shore. Short legs uselessly kicking the endless void of the ocean. His lungs were filled with water and salt again. Every scream was engulfed by the crashing of the waves. He flailed to his dismay.

In the end, he drowned.

_—Gabi_

“You alright there, boss?”

Gabriel closed his eyes.

“I’m fine. The chopper will be here in three hours. Pack up, boys.”

He ignored the merman’s distressed noise in his head.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so tired if there's any mistakes i'm terribly sorry i'll fix it later

He had watched it being carried into the helicarrier, the creature was silent throughout the journey. Gabriel and the boys were sat in the middle while the merman had two other soldiers on its sides. Two more in the cockpit and another one right beside Gabriel. Jack had gave him a confused look with a hint of fear. A part of him was bothered with that fact. But another part was already busy building a wall inside his head, trying to tune out from all the question being bombarded at him during the flight. _Shut up_. He really hated those questioning looks, let alone the voiced ones.

Even Jesse and Genji were quiet the whole time, oddly quiet. It bothered Gabriel a lot.

* * *

 

Captain Reyes was ushered away when he and his crew arrived at the base. Jesse and Genji left the moment they had the chance to escape. He saw Jack’s tank being pushed to another wing of the base while he was told to face Strike-Commander Amari right away to report back. Gabriel only saw glimpses of Jack’s fin as the merman’s aquarium was dragged away from his sight. Nothing was on his mind. Gabriel’s heart tightened.

“Well done on the mission, you did a great job retrieving the intel.” He watched as Ana sat behind her desk, fingers interlaced in front of her face.

“You didn’t tell me that the intel was a fucking merman.” Gabriel didn’t like Ana’s trained look on him.

“We didn’t know they had a merman on them, our informant said nothing about that.”

“Bullshit.” He hissed, that caught her attention.

“What are you so pissed about, Reyes? You’ve seen a lot of _things_ in this world, why are you so _bothered_ with the merman, anyway?” Ana squinted at him behind the desk and Gabriel stopped thinking at once. He blinked, twice, before his surprised gaze turned into the well-trained uninterested look he had perfected over his course of career. But even Gabriel knew well enough that Ana was much better at it than him. Nothing went unnoticed by her. That hardened look on his face meant nothing to her.

“What are you going to do with it?” Ana let him changed the topic.

“We are going to study it, find what exactly Talon did to it.” She looked back on her paperwork.

“Then?”

She paused.

“We’ll set it free.”

* * *

 

The lab where they studied Jack was isolated from the whole base. The information about it was also classified. No one except a handful of people had known about Jack’s existence within the HQ. Couple of floors underneath the ground. Several safely-locked doors before the main room. Artificial lights were all Jack had. It wasn’t like it meant anything to his sightless eyes, anyway.

The tank wasn’t much bigger than the one at Talon’s. Just enough for him to swim around when no one was doing any tests on him. He didn’t say a word ever since he was placed in there.

When Jack sensed more people he couldn’t recognise getting closer to him, he panicked. Their loud minds made him dizzy. Too much thoughts. _What the fuck is that? What is this? Look at those ugly scars. I thought they were supposed to be pretty_. He had turned to the only person he _trusted_ , had tried. The moment Jack tried to call him, he noticed Gabriel mentally shutting down everyone near him. Jack took that as a cue for him to just be quiet. So he stopped _listening_. He only let himself _hear_ the intangible murmurs coming from those so called doctors and scientists. He found it easier to block everything once he was inside his new fluorescent aquarium. He heard nothing from his mind, just noises coming to his ears. But even the noises were too quiet sometimes for him to be able to pick up anything.

Jack still flinched every time they touched him. A reflect from his old habit of anticipating pain. There were no more knifes and scalpels cutting him unpromtedly. There were still needles, just less painful than before. The people studying him didn’t say much word when they were around. Jack hadn’t made any effort to break the wall he was slowly building within himself. For Gabriel.

Gabriel wanted him to be here. Wanted Jack to shut up. Good thing Jack was extremely _good_ at that.

Jack sank to the bottom of his tank, arms tucked underneath with his tail curling over him.

Gabriel thought he heard a sad hum from somewhere.

* * *

 

Commander Amari of course had expected Captain Reyes to be back, she didn’t exactly pin-point the exact time but Gabriel was more or less later than she had predicted. Two weeks were long enough for a lot of things to happen.

“Where is the creature?” He tried his best to keep his tone neutral.

“That’s classified, soldier.”

“I brought him here, _I deserve to know_.” His voice was lowering dangerously before he caught himself thinking Jack as something _more_ than just _a creature_.

“I said, it’s classified. Dismissed, Gabriel.” Her eyes didn’t leave her holopad.

“Where is he?”

“ _Dismissed, Captain Reyes._ ”

Gabriel didn’t even know why he even asked that to Ana in the first place.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk how to properly write and i'm not a native speaker, so i'm really really sorry for any mistakes or if the chapters are short. i'm making shit up as this goes along tbh   
> i'm really happy with the responses from you guys, thank you so much for reading and liking my fics <3

Gabriel Reyes despised the ocean. Never fond of ‘em, as far as he could remember. The sight of the vastly open water only brought nausea to his stomach. All that came to his mind were images of being submerged underwater whenever he gazed too long at the sea. Followed by the feeling of helplessness and breathlessness. He remembered being five years old whenever he looked into the ocean, but could never recall what exactly happened for his goddamn life. Only flashes of images. Too much _blue_ melting into each other.

And then everything was a blur. He remembered nothing of his childhood. Save for that horrid memory plastered in his head.

Everyone knew about it. Gabriel made no effort to hide his fear, nobody ever bat another lashes at the fact. Ana Amari knew this as well.

_So why the fuck would she assign him to Illios?_

“Ya’ know, I thought Commander Amari knows—“

“She does.” Gabriel gritted through his teeth. Jesse stayed quiet after that, knowing not to antagonise the already-on-the-edge Captain. Everyone inside the helicarrier was quiet, nobody dared to speak in front of the Captain.

* * *

 

_“Who are you?””_

_“I’m Jack.”_

_“I’m Gabriel.”_

_Jack gave him the brightest smile he had ever seen in his entire life._

_“What do you want to do now?”_

_Jack shrugged lightly, turning his eyes back into the vast ocean._

_“I don’t know.”_

_Gabriel sat on top of the rock next to Jack, looking aimlessly at the horizon as well._

_“Me too.”_

* * *

 

They closed the door and just like that the room was dark again. Not that it made any difference to him. There were two doctors today, they didn’t take Jack out of his tank this time, only observing from the outside. Jack didn’t even realise he was being watched not until he heard the whirring noise form a machine next to his aquarium.

He could barely sense anything these past days. Everything seemed to be blocked whenever he tried to communicate. Jack was fine with it, they haven’t been doing what Talon did to him ever since he was moved here so he was fine with the development. It wasn’t like he had any other option or opinion on that matter, anyway. Everything had been hurting less and Jack could only be grateful about it.

Aside from that, nothing else was different. He was still alone on his own.

Jack leaned against the glass of his confined tank, smiling at himself. He never thought he’d be able to see Gabriel again, albeit the man not having any memory of him. The young boy had grown into a perfect man. Handsome in every way, strong build, and perfect stance. He felt like the mermaid in his mother’s story. Everything felt too similar, he could only laugh at the irony.

He closed his eyes, leaning deeper on the glass.

 _It’s fine_. Jack had found him and that was all that matter.

He had hoped his fate would change when Gabriel stood in front of him again.

_Gabriel, how are you?_

* * *

 

Overwatch missions were getting less and less _challenging_ ever since they finally caught Talon. Nothing lived up to that notorious terrorist group anymore. Most of the missions were now just clean-up mission. Sweeping whatever was left of Talon. Every now and then they got information about old Talon bases across the world. The missions got easier over the time.

But that didn’t mean Overwatch agents should be reckless about it. Gabriel knew that very well. As the whole operation Captain, of course he knew.

And yet somehow he got himself some brand new scars.

_Greece can go fuck itself._

“What happened now,” Gabriel looked anywhere _but_ at Angela.

“I got distracted.”

“Boss, _ya’ set off a bomb_.” Jesse squinted at his Captain.

“Shut up, pendejo.” The younger man made a gesture at Angela. _Can you believe this guy???_

Angela could only shake her head in resign. “You’re a _Captain_ , Gabriel. You should have known better.”

Gabriel grunted in response. He was too tired to defend himself from his reckless action. Angela was right, he should’ve known better than to make such mistake. He was the Captain. He really should have known better.

When the good doctor let them out from her infirmary, Gabriel didn’t waste any time and went straight to his room. His lower ribs still felt tender from the shrapnel.

“It’ll take a week to heal, don’t do anything stupid.” Angela had said. The usual Gabriel would scoff and said, “Define stupid.”

But the current Gabriel had his mind in something else.

He sat on his bed, eyebrows furrowed deep in contemplation. A small flashdisk was in his hand.

_Los Angeles, 20XX._

He was distracted by this.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> college is slowly destroying me but i gotta stay strong for the next four years, it's only been a week and i'm already tired to the bone, help
> 
> idk shit about writing an abandoned old base

The old base was empty, exactly like what Commander Amari had said, exactly what Gabriel and his team had expected. Gabriel kept his squad stayed vigilant despite it being unoccupied, _you’ll never know what’ll hit you until it hit you._ From the thickness of the dust settled on top of the tables and computers, the place hadn’t been used for several years. A real old Talon base.

There were pipes again, long drains leading to a place, somewhere deep within the base.

He remembered Jack for a brief second.

“A Squad take the left wing, B Squad with me to the right. Move out.” Gabriel motioned his soldiers.

He took his stride and led the way to another lab. He was greeted with the same huge tank he found a few weeks ago. Something churned inside him at the sight of the big, empty tube.

“Oh, didn’t we see this one already?”

Gabriel ignored Jesse and moved to circle around the uninhabited thing. Before knowing that Jack existed, that merman existed, Gabriel would’ve been confused as hell when he saw this thing. Now that he knew about Jack, a thought passed through his mind that perhaps Jack wasn’t the only merman captured by Talon. There was another merman? Maybe even more?

That speculation was answered once he read the information on the pad next to it.

_Name: Specimen #76_

_Classified: Merman_

_Captured: 29 October 20XX, Los Angeles_

Information about what used to be inside the tank blurred in his mind, he paid no real attention to them. What caught his interest was the image under the words. It was the same merman he met weeks ago. It was a photo of Jack.

_How long did Talon have their hands on Jack?_

“Hey, ain’t that Jackie?” Came the inquiry from his shoulder. Gabriel walked to another computer around the lab, ignoring Jesse and the rest of his squad.

Tentatively, Gabriel switched on the old thing. Blue light began to flicker in front of him as the screen brightened. He was half betting the thing would still work what with the dubious condition of the power supply. But was glad that it still worked. He was suddenly more interested about Specimen #76.

There were tons of data inside the computers. None of them concerning the huge tank in the middle of the lab.

“Find anything about the tank?”

“No, nothing about it, sir.”

“’ey, boss! It said it was moved to Shanghai five years ago. Ain’t that where we found Jackie?” The rest of the team mouthed ‘who’s Jackie?’ at each other. Jesse was frowning at Gabriel, expression strangely concerned.

Maybe that was why they couldn’t find anything about the merman here. Talon moved everything concerning the merman to the Shanghai base. That could explain the case. And yet Gabriel still found it odd that he couldn’t even find a single thing about that tank. Not even any logs. He pushed another button on the panel.

And then the alarmed blared.

_Initiating Self-Destruct Sequence in T-30_

_Oh, what the fuck, Reyes._

“Boss—“

“Take anything you can, fall back to base immediately!” Jesse was already running for the door when he looked back at his own squad, followed by the rest of the soldiers. _Oh, wow, thanks, kiddo._

In his defence, why would someone put the self-destruct button next to a scroll down button? That was an incredibly stupid design.

 Gabriel ran behind the rest of his team, he was about to pass the door when something caught his eyes. A small flashdisk plugged at the computer near the wall.

_Seriously? They’re this reckless?_

He thought it was one of his soldier’s. But he saw the label and he grabbed the thing immediately, pocketed it before running back for the door.

_Self-Destruct in T-5_

He fucked up.

_4_

There was no possible way for him to get out in time.

_3_

Gabriel ran as fast as his enhanced body could.

_2_

He saw the entrance of the base.

_1_

He got out. Gabriel saw his team several feet away from the collapsing building. He wasn’t far enough for the explosion, unfortunately.

* * *

 

Gabriel had risked his life saving the tiny thing. It better had what he wanted inside, better had something valuable for him.

He plugged the thing on his laptop and images of a small merman popped up. A face familiar to his subconscious greeted him.

He remembered Los Angeles.

* * *

 

“Gabriel, anything I can help you?” The Commander looked up from her paperwork. Sometimes it confused him why would she work manually when she could just whip those data on her holopad. A topic he wondered at times but never truly bothering for him to seek the truth. _Unlike a certain matter._

“You’re hiding him.” He tried his best to keep his tone neutral and low.

“I don’t know what you’re ta—“

“ _Where is he?_ ” He failed.

“That’s not of your concern, Reyes.”

“You’re hiding him because you _too_ , are _using_ _him_ like Talon.” Gabriel hissed, voice borderline malicious. Ana gave him a warning look.

Ana Amari was one of the few people Gabriel could actually trust. Despite her strict mannerism, she was thoughtful to her subordinates as a mother would to her children. Having her hiding _this_ from him was a huge thing for Gabriel, despite him being uncertain to why it was important to him in the first place. _He just felt so_.

“Ana, _please_ , I _need_ to know.” She sighed. This was a battle she was bound to lose. There was no point keeping it secret to Gabriel. She _knew_ , after all.

“Talk to Sombra.”

Gabriel gave her a small smile in gratitude before leaving her office.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally some jack/gabriel time ;) 
> 
> someone pls help me with my architecture assignments, they're killing me faster than i thought

Back in L.A., Gabriel’s house was right by the beach. Only a few feet away from the sandy surface. Every day he woke up to the sound of seagulls flying across the sky. Every day he woke up to a blindingly blue sky. He played on the beach every day. Build the same sandcastle every noon. His madre would call him back by sunset. Gabriel would shout “¡Ya voy!” before running towards his madre. He would halt right before the road, turning his back to have the last view of the setting sun. When the sun finally disappeared from the horizon, he continued his way back home.

Gabriel used to love the ocean. That was until he was five. Now, ocean made him sick.

* * *

 

“Ana told me you know where the merman is.” Sombra blinked, before grabbing Gabriel’s hand and practically dragged the man to the nearest elevator. She pressed a button and the door closed with a ding. Gabriel felt lost.

“Look, don’t tell anyone that I brought you down here, okay? This place is classified, I’m sure Ana already told you that,” Gabriel scoffed. “I can’t explain much, just follow me and be quiet.”

The door opened, revealing a dark-looking hallway. He’d seen enough grim passage in a month, he didn’t need to walk into another one.

Gabriel followed her steps, a small part of him was anxious about meeting with the merman again. His mind had wandered off somewhere when he bumped into Sombra who had stopped in front of a glass. Beyond the separating glass, there was on the other side. A familiar looking tank with a familiar figure inside it was right in the middle of the room. The merman was curling on the bottom of the tank.

“Jack—“

“He’s fine, probably resting. He appeared to be blind and mute as well. The scars are permanent, we can’t do anything about them.” Her voice was just barely above whispering. She motioned Gabriel to follow her again and led him to a door.

* * *

 

Jack woke up when he heard the small thudding noise of an opened and closed door. Someone entered the room. Was it the scientists? It was too early in his opinion, but his judgment of time was terrible, he didn’t really have any say on that matter.

“Jack—“ The merman looked around.

He heard Gabriel’s voice. But he couldn’t sense him. He couldn’t sense the man for the life of him, he couldn’t. He wanted to meet Gabriel again, to _hear_ him again. _Where is he?_

Jack heard another noise. Something was pressed over the glass in front of him. He swam towards it, blindly searching for the spot.

_—Gabi. Gabriel. Gabi. Please._

* * *

 

_I’m here, bello. I’m here._

_Jack._

_I’m right here._

Gabriel received no answer. No matter how loud he screamed Jack’s name in his mind. He heard nothing.

Gabriel shot a look at Sombra.

“Why is he not responding? _What have you done to him?_ ” His tone was threatening.

“I’ve done nothing—He’s been _like this_ most of the time, all we know is that he can hear us, _but that’s it_.”

Gabriel swore he would tear this place apart one day.

“No, no, _that’s not it_.”

_Jack, please, I know you can hear me._

_I’m right in front of you._

_Cariño, por favor._

Jack slowly retracted his hand from the glass before hesitantly swimming away. Jack pressed his back against the other side of the glass, facing Gabriel and Sombra with unseeing eyes, then slumped against the glass in defeat. Gabriel’s heart felt like being shattered to pieces.

“The others are coming in about an hour, we must go.” Sombra gently tugged at Gabriel’s arm.

He followed her silently, exiting the lab.

He needed more information. What they had done to Jack. Why they were keeping him there.

Ana had said to him once that she’d set him free. Something inside Gabriel doubted Ana’s words.

* * *

 

_“Your mom is calling,” Jack tilted his head at Gabriel._

_“I know, I don’t wanna go now, she can wait.”_

_“It’s already dark, though.”_

_“My house is only a minute away, I wanna stay with you a bit longer.” Jack smiled at him._

_“I will still be here tomorrow.” Gabriel only hummed at that statement. He just wanted more time with the merman. Sure, he’d meet him again tomorrow. But was it wrong to wish for more time?_

_Gabriel heard his madre’s calling again. He sighed before standing up from where he sat on the sand._

_“I gotta go. I’ll see you later, Jack.” He waved from a far._

_“See you too, Gabi.” Gabriel could see Jack standing in front of the ocean, before running into the water, and then disappeared over the horizon._

_No one would ever believe him if he said his friend was a merman._


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been a heck of a week

_Everything was blue and heavy. Pushing him down._

_And down._

_And down._

_He blinked. The space was fluid under his skin. Realisation slowly sunk in him that he was underwater. For a split second, he panicked. Gabriel was drowning again. He gasped and gasped, suffocating like hell. Then he saw something under him._

_Someone._

_Jack._

_JACK!_

_Jack looked up at him, Gabriel swam as fast as he could. He began to notice more details of the merman. The scars. The tears._

_Those glassy eyes, widened in panic. He tried to reach for Jack, extending his hand to grasp him. Then his lung was completely filled with seawater. His heart stopped beating._

Gabriel woke up in sweats.

He hadn’t had a drowning nightmare for years.

* * *

 

Gabriel was a man of many things. He was a big, mean-looking Captain. Some of his teammates often said that. But those who knew him close would add that he was just like a big teddy bear. He has a good heart. He was tactical in battlefield, composed at pressing times, perceptive at his surroundings. He was also reckless at times. Impulsive when tempted.

He found himself standing in front of the same tank for the same week. The lab was empty, he was half betting it would be empty. Gabriel couldn’t sleep again, he needed to see Jack. For some reason he couldn’t even think of, Gabriel _needed_ to see him.

Jack was resting inside the tank, curling at the bottom of the aquarium.

“Jack, can you hear me?” He pressed a hand over the glass.

The merman stirred, noticing the noise.

“Jack, hey,” Gabriel lightly tapped at the glass separating them. Jack immediately woke up, glancing around in confusion.

“It’s me, Gabriel,” At the mention of his name, Jack quickly swam to find him. Blindly searching for him.

_Gabe. Gabi. Gabi, where are you?_

“I’m here, can you hear me?”

_Yes. Yes, I can hear you. Can you hear me?_

Gabriel’s hand balled over the glass, he sighed in defeat. Still no response. He glanced up before looking around for access to the tank. Surely there was one.

“Hold on, let me see if I can find any opening.” For a moment, Jack feared that Gabriel would leave him again. That maybe it was just his imagination that Gabriel was here. His train of thought was interrupted when he heard something opening from above the tank. Jack hurriedly swam upward.

“Jack,”

_—Gabi!_

Gabriel leaned over the opening. He found the stairs, had luckily pressed the right button for the tank’s lid to open.

“Can you hear me?”

_—Yes! Yes, I can hear you clearly. I thought you left.._

Jack could see Gabriel again, he could sense the man in front of him. The merman leaned against the edge of his tank for support. Gabriel could see all his scars clearly in close distance. In such close proximity, he could see how milky Jack’s eyes were, how _damaged_ he looked. It made his stomach churned in anger.

_—C-can you hear me?_

The voice was unsure, as if expecting the answer to be no. Jack hesitantly raised a hand to touch at Gabriel’s face.

“Yes, bello, _yes_.” He leaned into the reluctant touch, grabbing the cold hand and pressing it against his cheek to assure the merman.

Jack smiled. Something about it seemed sad.

_—Why are you here?_

Jack should not be kept in here.

“We’re leaving.”

_—What—Why?_

“I’m getting you out of here, can you still…” Something inside him wanted to say _walk_ but the part of Gabriel that was rooted at the current time felt wrong saying that. But he remembered Jack walking beside him side by side along the beach. He remembered him.

—I don’t know, haven’t walked for a long time now..

Gabriel made up his mind.

“It’s fine, put your arms around my neck.” The creature complied and was pulled from the water by Gabriel. He carried Jack down the stairs, to the elevator. Water was pooling and leaving trails all over the base. Gabriel couldn’t care less.

Jack remained quiet the entire time, understood that he shouldn’t distract Gabriel from whatever plan was in his mind, but also because he couldn’t make any noise save for some hissing even if he try. Jack opted to stay pliant on Gabriel’s strong arms, trying to lean as close as he could to the man.

Gabriel fumbled a bit trying to press his finger on his doorpad, he wasted no time and went straight to the bathroom. Perks of being a Captain was having his own quarter with a bathtub. He placed Jack over the tub, turning the tap on to fill it with warmer water. He just realised how cold the water inside the tank was when Jack was pressed flushed against him. Maybe that was why he always saw Jack curling at the bottom.

_—Oh, this is nicer._

Jack let himself sunk under the warm water. Gabriel sat on the floor next to the bathtub and the contented-looking merman inside it. He felt happy seeing Jack happy like that. He remembered seeing the same face from back then. A younger and happier merman he befriended a long time ago. _Sol de oro._

Jack looked at him.

_—You remembered._

“Yes.” The merman’s face turned unreadable, a mixture of frown and smile.

“I found more files. I remembered where we first met.” Gabriel rested his head over the edge of tub.

_—You do.._

“It’s been so long, Jack. God— _I remembered_.” He closed his eyes, feeling a wet hand massaging his scalp, warmer this time. They stayed like that for some time, contented with each other’s presence at the moment. Gabriel finally felt relaxed after weeks of not being so ever since he found Jack. The merman couldn’t be happier to be able to have interaction again, especially with Gabriel. It had been far too long, not having any interacting with the world, being along for so long inside Talon’s old tank.

A familiar hum. Gabriel slowly opened his eyes, only to find Jack’s were closed. He stood up, suddenly more aware of how wet his clothes were against his skin.

“I’m gonna change, be right back.”

Gabriel placed the shirt he had just grabbed on the sink when he heard the room’s bell.

_Who the fuck._

“Hold on,” Gabriel pressed the pad. The door slid open to reveal Jesse McCree standing with a goofy grin on his face.

Gabriel’s mood soured in just a mere second.

“Heya, boss.”

“ _What do you want?_ ” Jesse shrugged nonchalantly.

“Saw puddles trailing across the base, led me here. Oh, wow— _why’re ya’ wet?_ ”

“What. Do. You. Want.”

“Alright, alright, calm down there, ‘m just askin’ if ya’ wanna join the others for a game night?”

“It’s,” Gabriel glanced inside his room to look at the clock. “It’s 2 in the morning, _why the fuck_ would you want to play games? _Go to sleep, pendejo_.”

“Haha, ya’ got me there, boss. I lied. I wanna check. Like I said, those puddles of water on the hallway led me to your room. You’re wet like this and I didn’t see you at the gate, ‘m on guard duty, by the way; It’s not rainin’ outside so, really, I should be the one asking.”

Gabriel was having none of this.

“It’s none of your business—“

“Hey, ain’t that Jackie—Hey!” Jesse waved at someone behind Gabriel. The Captain froze in place before abruptly looking back to see Jack standing with _his_ shirt on, leaning against the bathroom’s door frame. Jack was smiling and waving back at Jesse. He was standing on two feet.

_Oh._


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a short thing before the gap until next week, school is very tiring eugh 
> 
> yea i like ending stuff with cliff hanger, you probably know by now

The moment the door slid closed, Jack’s legs buckled and he collapsed on the floor, still leaning to the bathroom’s door frame for life. Gabriel went straight to kneel by his side, holding Jack protectively.

_—I didn’t remember this being very tiring.._

Jack’s voice was strained in his mind, a forced laughter followed.

“Are you okay?” Gabriel was still taken back by the new Jack. From his fragments of memories, this new Jack shouldn’t be a surprise to him. He knew Jack could stand on two feet on land. They had walked along the beach back in California years ago. He knew not the magic behind how, he never really gave that thing a thought after all. It didn’t occur to him that such miraculous performance require a lot of energy and strength for it to manifest. Gabriel was a man of simple mind and he should probably thinking of how.

Jack sounded breathless.

_—‘m fine. Just, tired.._

The merman leaned his head against the crook of Gabriel’s neck. The man froze in place, not sure what to do next. Jack’s breathing was turning shallower and shallower by the second. Like a fish out of water.

Water.

Gabriel picked him up the moment Jack’s breathing stopped completely, hurried himself to the bathroom and placed him back in the bathtub.

“Jack, Jack, can you hear me? Bello, Jack.” Gabriel scrambled to grab the merman’s hand, clasping it with his own.

No, no, no, don’t do this.

The merman didn’t respond, his legs were still _legs_.

“Por favor, Jack, querido,” This wasn’t what Gabriel had in mind when he thought about bringing Jack to his room. This wasn’t how it supposed to be. They were supposed to have a relaxing night, talking leisurely ‘til dawn, or just sleep side by side. Not like this. Not with Jack barely breathing and Gabriel panicking near the bathtub.

“C’mon, wake up, Jack.” He leaned down, resting his forehead against the merman’s. He kissed Jack’s eyelid, hoping it to open. Didn’t matter that they looked pass him every time Gabriel gaze at Jack.

_—I’m fine, Gabi._

Gabriel sighed in relief. He barely noticed the legs changing back to its original blue tail. It was still marred with scars.

“You scared me to death.” Gabriel received a sluggish smile from Jack.

“How did you do that, by the way?”

_—The legs?_

“No, Jesse. How did you get him to leave us alone?”

_—I told him so._

“He never listened to me.” Gabriel let out a soft chuckle, accompanied by a lighter own in his head. They stayed quiet for a while. Jack’s hand still being held by Gabriel. Enjoying the moment.

Something Gabriel hadn’t done for a long time now.

_—I erased his memory._

Gabriel blinked, eyebrows slowly knitted in a frown.

_—He won’t remember me from now on, I hope so._

“You can do that?” Gabriel had no recollection of such ability from Jack.

_—More or less? We can temper with minds, after all. I tried once or twice to the scientists, but it didn’t work well. It requires a lot of concentration, the needles from back then were too painfully distracting._

Gabriel’s hands tightened a bit.

“It’s okay, you’re here now, and you’re safe with me.” The same strained smile was on Jack’s face, his heart ached seeing that look on Jack for some reason. Those dull eyes staring back at him with such sorrow.

Something inside Gabriel yearned to soothe his pain.

“How did you lose your..” Gabriel trailed off, unsure.

_—The last thing I remembered seeing was light. Bright light. Too bright._

They blinded you.

_—I guess they were testing my healing ability, they injected something before they did the light. My healing ability weakened after every shot. To the point where I couldn’t heal anything anymore._

“Jack,”

_—I-it’s fine, I’m fine now. It was already worsening before it, anyway._

Gabriel’s frown deepened.

“Your voice,”

Jack noticeably flinched.

“I remember _hearing_ your voice, not like this, not in my mind.” Anger was bubbling underneath Gabriel’s calm tone.

“They did that as well?”

_—No.._

Jack retracted his hand from Gabriel’s hold.

_—No, it was me._


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im giving yall a false sense of security with all these fluffs

Gabriel didn’t say a word, letting the silence went on. He kept his gaze at Jack who seemed to notice the intense stare as the merman was visibly squirming trying to hide himself, uncomfortable with the sudden spotlight. Gabriel waited for Jack to explain. He gave him the space to talk.

The silence lasted too long for Jack’s liking, but Gabriel showed no sign of breaking the ice first.

_—S-shouldn’t you be sleeping?_

“I’m very much awake now, no, thanks.” _Who knows, maybe you’ll leave when I’m asleep._

_—I’ll still be here when you wake up._

Gabriel suddenly felt very tired of thinking.

_—It’s not like I can go anywhere._

Something about that soft chuckling noise in his head felt very soothing to him. Gabriel tried to blink the drowsiness away.

_—See.._

“Shut up, ‘m not..”

The last thing Gabriel saw was Jack leaning into him and he felt his forehead being kissed. And just like that the Captain fell into slumber, Jack closed his eyes as well.

For the first time in decades, Jack felt _whole_.

* * *

 

Being a Captain meant that Gabriel had to be a morning person. He was, his mind never really shut off anyway. Gabriel always woke up with a mind ready to run for the day.

But not this morning. The Captain could barely recall anything as he woke up on his bed. He blinked slowly, trying to register his surroundings, trying to put pieces back together. It was like waking up to a hangover, but unlike the tiredness from a hangover, he felt _good_ waking up. He felt so relaxed.

Gabriel blinked again, he put the first puzzle piece down as he stared blankly on the ceiling. He remembered seeing McCree. Jack’s face popped up in his mind and suddenly the gears began to work.

Somewhere through the night, he fell asleep. And now he woke up in bed, with head as white as his bed sheets. He felt wrong waking up on his bed. He felt wrong being so relaxed and comfortable.

He fell asleep in his bathroom.

_What. Oh, wait, Jack._

_Jack._

Gabriel didn’t think twice before jumping from his bed and ran straight for the bathroom. His heart sank when he found the room to be empty. The water was already drained from the tub, everything looked untouched. As if last night didn’t happen.

It was a dream.

He heard shuffling noise coming from the other room.

_—You okay?_

“Dios, I thought it was just a dream..” The bed dipped where Gabriel sat. Jack was sleeping beside him all along. His mind was so blank he didn’t notice the warmth radiating right next to him.

He heard the familiar chuckle and watched as Jack made himself comfortable with the duvet.

_—It’s so soft._

Gabriel laid down beside him again, sighing contently. Jack snuggled closer to him.

“Where’s your—“ He felt a cold feet nudging at his own, as if seeking warmth.

“Oh.” Jack only hummed.

“You’re still wearing my shirt.”

_—It’s cold._

“Your tank was colder.”

_—I’m sick of it._

Gabriel shuffled to face Jack.

“You gonna tell me more of your story?” Jack only averted his face from him. He sighed.

_I understand._

“So now what?”

_—I don’t know._

* * *

 

Somehow Gabriel managed to convince Ana to recruit Jack into Overwatch. She didn’t recognise Jack when Gabriel introduced him to the Commander. Surely she knew how Jack looked like, and all those scientists who worked on him. Sombra, Genji, and Jesse should’ve known as well.

But no one had any memory of meeting Jack. Nobody seemed to notice that Jack was blind and mute.

Jack collapsed to the floor right after the door shuffled close. Gabriel was quick on his feet to pick him up and put him back to his bathtub.

“You did that again, didn’t you?”

A strained smile was all he received.

“You shouldn’t push yourself that hard.”

_—I have to. They won’t believe you if I didn’t._

“You messed with her as well, didn’t you?”

_—I didn’t mess her up._

Gabriel sighed. If it wasn’t for Jack’s mind-doing-thingy, Ana wouldn’t have let Jack join the team. Gabriel was both thankful and angry at him.

“You’ll drain yourself,” _To death._

_—I won’t._

_How would I know?_

_—Trust me._

“Cabrón.”

_—Yours truly._

* * *

 

They placed Jack under Gabriel’s command. But the Captain insisted Jack on working with Angela in the medbay. He couldn’t risk Jack on the battlefield when the merman could barely hold himself after a single day walking on two feet.

Jack knew nothing of military. He blindly complied at Gabriel’s words, trusted every bits of it.

Helping Angela in her infirmary was easier than shooting with gun. Jesse; who was reintroduced to Jack, had brought him to the shooting range. The thing was heavy in his hand, his feet could only hold so much of the knockback from every bullets fired. He couldn’t imagine how Gabriel could do that, especially with two guns. Jesse had mentioned about his Captain’s choice of weapon. Jack was completely lost at the new names and words he hadn’t heard of before.

They fell into a small routine by the next month. Gabriel would woke up first, Jack following a few moments later. Jack would watch Gabriel drank his morning coffee, still questioning why he would drink such bitter thing. Gabriel would go to his office while Jack would go to Angela’s at around 9 a.m. They met again during lunch and dinner time at the cafeteria. No one said a word when they both retreated to Gabriel’s quarter.

Jack rarely went for the bathtub nowadays, instead he slept by Gabriel’s side. Years of being confined in a tank full of cold water made him sick of it. He liked the feeling of being wrapped under the sheets. He liked having Gabriel’s warmth beside him.

Although he was starting to feel better and better, his scars still remained. His pale skin was still covered with gashes. A rumour had spread that he was a war veteran. Jack wasn’t sure of what to say to that. Gabriel dismissed them completely.

The merman was slowly turning human. Jack slowly forgot about Talon and his water prison. He never asked about the ocean, or even his old home. In return, Gabriel never asked about what happened to him anymore.

They fell into a mundane routine and slowly forgetting their pasts.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> all i had in mind was a tragic scenario, idk how to convey that into words  
> tfw language barrier ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Days turned into weeks and weeks into months. Before they even realized it, the months had finally turned into one whole year. One year since they met again. One year since Gabriel found Jack.

Time was something else for the merfolk. They lived to hundreds and thousands of years. One year meant nothing to their kind. They were essentially immortal beings with magical powers. They could heal their wounds, dying of old age was nothing for them.

Below the ocean, they were.

But Jack hadn’t been to the ocean for a long while now.

Time felt different to him now. Years ago when he was still living by the beach; close to Gabriel and close to his own home, time passed by unnoticed. Days meant nothing to a being who was meant to live for hundreds of years. And then he was captured by Talon, forced to live inside a tank several feet under the ground. Constantly being moved from place to place for research. Time blurred from something he never gave a second thought, to something that felt moving around him. A transition that prickled his skin with anxiousness.

Then he met Gabriel again, and for a moment, time slowed down again.

His mind was too preoccupied trying to be human that he didn’t realise the tingling sense bubbling within him. Every second was spent maintaining his form.

Jack didn’t realise he was living on borrowed time.

* * *

 

“You alright there, Jack?”

_—Huh?_

Angela shot him a concerned look.

“You look _off_ today, is everything alright?” Jack didn’t understand her words. He didn’t understand because he couldn’t see how he looked like. He couldn’t see, no matter how much he wanted to. He couldn’t heal those useless eyes.

He couldn’t see how Angela looked like. Or himself.

Or Gabriel.

He felt utterly useless.

“Jack?”

He blinked his sightless eyes.

_—I’m fine._

Angela gave her a doubting look, something Jack could never notice, anyway.

* * *

 

Being a Captain meant that Gabriel never really stayed that long in base. He was constantly deployed to certain area for a period of time. Now that Talon was permanently put to rest, the duration of his missions were shorter than before. But that didn’t shorten much of the frequency.

The moment Gabriel flew off with the helicarrier, the old sense of exhaustion gnawed him again. His mind felt like broken into pieces, scattered for him to do his best and hold it together. Maintaining the form became such a labour.

Still, he pushed himself. Forcing every bits of his energy to stand up. He was a merman, but he walked on Earth now. He was far too occupied with walking that he didn’t really think of the cost of his feet.

* * *

 

His legs gave up more often than he liked these days. Jack was sitting on their bed when Gabriel had prompted the idea. Going to Indiana to visit Gabe’s relatives. Jack barely understood the meaning of relatives.

Gabriel was born and raised in a city, but some of his relatives lived in a small town. The family gathering was rolled every year. Sometimes in Gabe’s hometown, sometimes in another town. The man wanted to take Jack to meet with his extended family. They took the morning flight and arrived a few hours later in the day. The bus dropped them in the middle of nowhere. When asked, Gabriel said that they had to walk the last few miles to the town. Jack didn’t have the heart to tell Gabriel that he didn’t feel like walking that extra miles.

His feet were sore, felt like they could give up any moment now. He wasn’t supposed to be walking like this.

_—Gabi.._

Gabriel walked in front of him, casually striding across the road in 30 degree Celsius. Being a military, the heat meant nothing to him.

“Just a few more miles, Jack. Come on.”

A merman was not meant to walk on Earth.

Jack shut his blind eyes, using his last ounce of energy to navigate himself behind Gabriel. He stumbled over rocks every now and then. But combined with the exhaustion, he didn’t manage to catch himself when he stumbled at the last rock.

Gabriel heard a thud of a falling man behind him.

“Hey, you alright there—“ Jack was just about to stand up when he realised he couldn’t.

His stomach dropped as he propped himself on the burning asphalt. Panic began to rise.

_—I-I can’t.._

“Jack—“ He blacked out the moment Gabriel caught his falling form.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i guess this explains everything, yea?

Gabriel never truly believed in soulmates. The idea of having someone made for you was too idealistic for him. His parents were okay, in his eyes, their whole relationship was decent. There were fights, but there were happy times as well. They had a balanced share of laughter and shouts.

 _Nothing in the world is perfect._ That was one of his solid foundation under his constructed mind. People had flaws and Gabriel understood that well enough. He knew when to push, when to halt. It made him who he was now. A competent Captain that his subordinates could trust upon.

All that shaped his belief in relationship. An idea of someone truly meant for you, solely made to fill what was missing inside you; was confusing to him. He never actually prod more on the thought. Having someone filled your gaps sounded ludicrous _yet_ probable to him. With what he experienced in his past relationships, a soulmate sounded enticing. He wouldn’t say his past relationships were disastrous, but they weren’t what he truly wanted.

They didn’t fill the gaps inside him.

Acknowledging that feeling meant that he believed in soulmates.

His train of thoughts never made it past that rebuttal.

* * *

 

_Eres mi rayo, rayito de sol._

Long long ago, a small boy from California had sung that to him. He said his mother taught him the letra. The boy said his hair reminded him of the sun, so he sang the song. A short melody sang by a lovely voice.

Jack knew that song by heart.

_—Gabi,_

“Sleep well?” Jack felt warm arms wrapped around him, felt broad chest against his head. He leaned into Gabriel, sighing. He felt a hand crept to his hair and gently smoothing the silver locks. The motion kept him grounded as he swayed his tail in the water.

Jack blinked. Suddenly very aware of his surroundings.

He slipped from Gabriel’s arms, sinking down from panic.

_—W-where are we? Where am I?_

A hand grabbed his arms and pulling him up from the water. Jack blinked even more, disorientated.

“Whoa, whoa, _calm down_. We’re near my uncle’s house. You’re in a pond, Jack.”

_—What,_

“You fainted, yea’? I didn’t know what to do so I carried you here.”

Ever since he stayed with Gabriel, he avoided any large body of water like the plague. For some reason he couldn’t stomach swimming in a bottomless tank. The familiar sensation of a pit from the pond was too much for him.

_—I-I’m sorry, I couldn’t keep myself together.._

“Nah, if anything, I should be sorry. It’s my fault, I shouldn’t push you like this. You’re not meant for this kind of torture.” Gabriel cupped his face. “I’m sorry, bello.”

Jack leaned into the touch.

“You could’ve just said no. I mean, shit, I _know_ I should’ve known better than to drag you all the way to here just for a family gathering. You could’ve said no, Jack. You didn’t have to come.”

_—But I want to._

“Oh, Jackie.”

_—I’m serious!_

“No shit, tonto.”

_—Hey!_

 Gabriel let out a bark of laughter before pressing a kiss on the other’s temple. A nice breeze came by, shaking the tree above the pond. Gabriel never really spent his childhood near the pond, despite how frequent he used to visit his tío. He had a hard time adjusting back after the incident. The ocean disturbed him most, but ponds made him uneasy.

_—I didn’t use to be this weak, you know._

_I know._

“I remember a strong boy with tail for feet, I remember..”

Gabriel furrowed his brows.

“him pulling me out from the water.”

Jack went still. Those hands holding his arms went limp.

“I remember drowning.” Dark brown eyes blinked, mind working hardly to pull out whatever memory was left inside it.

“I remember, you,”

Jack averted his face. “You rescued me.”

Jack could Gabriel staring at him for confirmation, answer, anything. Gabriel was a smart man. Jack knew what would come next, what his train of thoughts would lead to. Giving the answer straight away didn’t seem right to him.

“No,” The frown deepened. “I wasn’t drowning, no, _I drowned._ I died. You, you were the last thing I saw.”

The forced smile on Jack confused him.

“What happened?” Jack opened his mouth slightly, as if to say something.

Gabriel blinked. The mouth closed into a thin line again.

_—I gave you my voice._

Gabriel had a thought, he didn’t like the thought.

“Your voice?”

_—We, merfolks, have powers. Power to heal, to give life. We have powers when we sing. Singing is everything to us, it gives us life. It heals the souls._

Jack slipped from Gabriel’s hold again, distancing himself. His gaze went straight pass Gabriel.

_—I did what I had to._

Before the merman could go deeper into the water, Gabriel grabbed him by the arm.

_No, no, no._

“You, did that,”

Jack flinched.

_—It’s nothing._

“Nothing? Jack, _you gave me your soul_ , that ain’t _nothing_!”

* * *

 

Gabriel never really believed in soulmates. He died, his soul had passed. Him not having soulmate made sense now. But Jack gave up his voice for Gabriel’s soul. Different things but an equal bargain.

Gabriel didn’t have a soulmate because his soulmate gave away theirs for his to live on.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a really short thing for intermission, i guess???? i'm still thinking where should this fic go from the last chapter. i have this idea but idk how to incorporate it
> 
> so yea

He had slipped from the rock where he usually perched. He was standing up to wave Jack goodbye, like usual. A foot missed the slippery platform underneath him.

There was no scream. Just widened eyes as he fell crashing into the cold ocean.

Jack swam as fast as he could, trying to catch the falling boy. The crashing of the waves muting the sound of bones crashing against rocks. Everything was a blur. White blinding pain.

Gabriel couldn’t swim. His leg was broken, arm probably fractured. Between trying to keep himself afloat and hissing at the pain, he swallowed salty water instead of air.

“No, no, no, no, please no—“

Jack made it in time to catch Gabriel before the boy fell deeper into the sea.

But he didn’t catch him in time for Gabriel to be alive.

The merman dragged the dead weight of Gabriel to the beach. Crying, trying to heal whatever was left of the human.

“Gabe, please, no,”

Anything. he’d do anything to bring him back.

“Please,”

His mother had once told him about a tragedy. Of a mermaid who fell in love with a man. The man was heavily injured before the mermaid could confess their love. Jack gripped the collar of Gabe’s shirt a little tighter.

_Bring him back._

The merman leaned down, mouth millimeters away from the other’s as he _breathed_ his life into Gabriel. His voice. He gave his life for Gabriel. His regeneration, his power. Anything.

As warm light engulfed them, the boy’s body slowly turned warmer.

“Hey!” Jack looked up to the street across the beach. Human, several of them, approaching. He tried to stand, tried to turn his fin into leg. They didn’t obey him. It was still fin by the time the men arrived, surrounding him and Gabriel. No leg. No voice. Exposed. Panic was all over his face.

“Finally,” One of them said. The tall one, with black suit and tie, eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses. They all look the same. Jack had never been more scared in his life.

* * *

 

Gabriel woke up to several eyes watching him. Worried and stress all over their faces. He was in his room, in his bed. His madre hugged him before he could say anything.

“Dios, pensamos que te perdimos,” At that time, Gabriel didn’t understand why his madre cried. Didn’t understand the stressed look on his padre’s face. Nor did he understand why sometimes he could hear the sound of crashing waves when he was alone.

All he knew was that he was afraid of the ocean ever since that. Fragment of memories. Nightmares after nightmares.

He didn’t remember anything else.

* * *

 

In the end, the man was saved, thanked the mermaid for what they’ve done. The mermaid confessed their love for the man.

With a pitiful smile, the man thanked the mermaid again. But he apologized, for he didn’t share the same sentiment to the mermaid. They understood. Politely bid farewell to the man before they swam back to the ocean.

Unrequited. The mermaid dissolve into sea foam as the sun set on the horizon.

Jack knew the extent of his action. Knew the consequences.

He’d do anything for Gabriel.

* * *

 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> after literally years  
> im updating it in commemoration of mermay  
> ive been rping on tumblr a lot lately so you notice the chance of writing style heh

A stalemate and of course it would be a stalemate with how persistent Jack is. The merman wanted to let it go; _It’s the past, let’s move on, Gabe_. In the past, Captain Reyes was a dismissing leader. Strict but not overly so, he had his ways, always has. He let bygone be bygones, he donned the cap of a commanding figure flawlessly. And it did leave unfilled cracks that every now and then crumbled slightly at the edge. Somewhere along the line Jack came into the equation and the cracks crumbled faster. It’s the present and Gabriel will not move on so easily, not anymore.

It’s nothing. Repeated over and over until it became an aching chant. It’s nothing that Jack traded his life for Gabriel’s. It’s nothing that this emotion he risked harbouring may perhaps be a lost cause all along. It’s nothing because he’s fine. Jack accepted.

“Jack,”

_—Please, Gabriel.._

It’s a look that will always pain him, a single plea and it felt like the ocean had engulfed him again. Drowning is a familiar feeling. He couldn’t press more, that’s the least he could do. This beating heart belonged to Jack, it’s the least he could at this moment.

The question of ‘why’ lingered in the air but neither spoke more after it. They both knew of the answer, a confirmation wasn’t necessary.

* * *

 

They agreed on a term; Jack would not be coming with Gabriel to visit his relatives, he’d stay in this pond for the sake of his health and identity. A shame and both agreed on that, but knowing what prompted this, Gabriel had the heart to let go. Gabriel would visit, often, as much as he possibly could. They agreed on another condition, Gabriel would not let Jack be left unarmed. A small abandoned hutch nearby and Gabriel’s gun in Jack’s hand with a set of ammunition. Enough for self-defense.

To say Gabriel had become rather protective of the merman would be an understatement. Fond, and even more so now that he knew of their history. The man couldn’t focus much in this festive night, his thoughts were with Jack, not with the boisterous laughter that spoke of nostalgia highly. The cold night air was his only sedative for his eating anxiety.

Miles away, Jack sat inside the hutch.

He had circled the miniature pond enough to know every single edge of it, where it deepened and where it shallowed. So he opted to emerge to the surface, be human again, play pretense despite the aching of his bones.

Jack lived on a borrowed time. Back in those tanks, he never thought of going anywhere. He stayed because there was nowhere else to go, by staying at least he made a difference however minuscule it was. These scars were earned, that’s what he believed. For so long he believed of his contribution blindly but now he questioned everything. He questioned all of his stances but he would never questioned his devotion to Gabriel. Jack accepted whatever fate had in stow for him the moment he breathed live back into Gabriel, no more room for doubt ever since. He will not question it.

Once he started questioning it, he will return to foam.


End file.
